og29 new question

fair_sword

29. In three centuries--from 1050 to 1350--several million tons

of stone were quarried in France for the building of eighty

cathedrals, five hundred large churches, and some tens of

thousands of parish churches.

(A)  for the building of eighty cathedrals, five hundred large

churches, and some

(B)  in order that they might build eighty cathedrals, five

hundred large churches, and some

(C)  so as they might build eighty cathedrals, five hundred

large churches, and some

(D)  so that there could be built eighty cathedrals, five

hundred large churches, and

(E)   such that they could build eighty cathedrals, five hundred large churches, and

Choice A is best. The other choices are unidiomatic or

unnecessarily wordy, and the pronoun they, which appears in B, C

, and E, has no grammatical referent. 对于答案没有问题。但是

million tons of stone were quarried 中的核心词应该是stone呀，stone是单数，应该是was. 如果是复数的话，应该是stones, 这样后面的they就有指代了。请NN指教？

并请参看GWD19

Q19:

In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of which are in middle management and light industry.

A.     as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of which are in

2. as with much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women works, many in
   
3. as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of them in
   
4. like much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women works, and many are
   
5. like much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many are in

C

rt316

我认为，ETS在解释OG29时最后一句话可能写错了，应该是：and the pronoun they, which appears in B, C, and E, has no logical referent. 因为build的主语应该是人而不可能是stone，所以，they从逻辑上应该指代未出现的名词：people。而从语法的角度来看，本题they应该指代tons of stone。

这里的of结构不同于普通意义上的A of B结构，这里的A of B结构是因为B是不可数名词，所以冠词复杂化，不存在所谓的核心词概念，比如我们说：two pens或two pieces of paper，所要表达的都是‘两个...’，两个结构表达的都是复数概念，后面的动词都只能用复数。

vincent0330

刚查了一下Cambridge Dictionaries Online:

Definition

stone (WEIGHT) (plural stone or stones)  

noun [C] (WRITTEN ABBREVIATION st) UK
a unit of weight equal to 6.35 kilograms or 14 pounds, used especially when talking about a person's weight:
I weigh ten and a half stone.
She has put on/lost a stone (= is a stone heavier/lighter).

rt316

还是vincent0330仔细，我只是草草从longmen和金山词霸上查了一下，没看到单复数解释，就认为是不可数名词，惭愧！

刚刚又查了Merriam-Webster Online，再次证实vincent0330的结论是正确的。

不知道语法区是否提供了Merriam-Webster Online的网址，其实这是美国英语比较官方的字典，网址：http://m-w.com

bunnier

以下是引用stoneren在2004-6-29 1:28:00的发言：

还是vincent0330仔细，我只是草草从longmen和金山词霸上查了一下，没看到单复数解释，就认为是不可数名词，惭愧！

刚刚又查了Merriam-Webster Online，再次证实vincent0330的结论是正确的。

不知道语法区是否提供了Merriam-Webster Online的网址，其实这是美国英语比较官方的字典，网址：http://m-w.com

bunnier is confused... stoneren gg: your explanation on 第2楼 is reasonable. logically, "stone" refers to rock and is uncountable. in this sentence, it shouldn't be a weight unit, which is countable and has the plural form "stone" (w/o s).

what point is bunnier missng? 请指教。。。

rt316

bunnier，其实stone是否是可数都不影响我在2楼的解释，我在4楼的帖子想指出stone的可数性，希望不要由于2楼的帖子误导大家。

无论可数的stone还是不可数的stone，都不可能build，build的总是人。

bunnier

以下是引用stoneren在2004-6-29 3:25:00的发言：

bunnier，其实stone是否是可数都不影响我在2楼的解释，我在4楼的帖子想指出stone的可数性，希望不要由于2楼的帖子误导大家。

无论可数的stone还是不可数的stone，都不可能build，build的总是人。

thank you for explaining, stoneren gg! strongly agree with 人... xixi.

fair_sword

如果ETS的最后一句话错了，那么这句对吗

million tons of stone were quarried  中stone是可数名词。单数，应该是was。否则应该是million tons of stones were

GWD. an overwhelming proportion of women work, 复数women对应work. 而不是an overwhelming proportion 对应works.

rt316

stone单复数同型

robertchu

How about this explanation?

two stones (可数)
a million tons of stone (抽象, 不可数)